Perfectly moist and tender champagne cupcakes are the perfect vehicle to serve up this smooth and creamy strawberry swiss meringue buttercream.

Strawberries and Cream Champagne Cupcakes

If you’re celebrating anything anytime soon, let me introduce you to these babies. Champagne isn’t just for drinking, it’s for baking too! And WOW does it make a huge difference in flavor. I love these cupcakes so much simply because they make celebrating that much more special. Why only drink a glass of champagne when you can have champagne in your cupcakes too?!

Here’s a quick hint too: I might be whipping these up for Valentine’s Day this year for Noah because he looooves anything strawberry flavored, and he especially loves when champagne is involved too. If you’ve got a birthday party, office party, holiday party, you name it, coming up… you’ll wanna keep this recipe in your back pocket!

What are Champagne Cupcakes?

This is one of my absolute fav cupcake recipes because it’s heavy on the butter and the champagne. You’d be amazed at how much of a difference champagne will make in a baked dessert, the flavor profiles explode when you take a bite, and the texture is simply perfect. What more could we ask for, honestly lol.

Typically, when you bake with champagne you would create a reduction, meaning you’d simmer it in a saucepan until it thickens and reduces by about half. But, I decided to leave this step out because I think the champagne flavors still come through nicely, and I’d rather have my cupcakes sooner lol.

But to make things even better, we’re topping these with a strawberry swiss meringue buttercream (SMBC). SMBC is probably my all-time favorite kind of buttercream because it has the most beautiful texture, and it pipes like an absolute dream. And for a cupcake like this, you’ll definitely want to compliment it with a delicious buttercream like this one.

How to Make SMBC

Swiss meringue buttercream is a delicacy, to put it plainly. It can take a few tries to get it just right, but once you get it once you’ll be able to do it every time (I promise!). I think I’ve discovered about every single way to NOT make SMBC – until I finally nailed it and I haven’t looked back. It’s my go-to buttercream, and for good reason!

Because it is such an intricate process I created this step-by-step how-to blog post on making SMBC – with troubleshooting steps as well! The post includes everything I know about SMBC, so you’ll be able to nail it on the first try as well.

If you’re wanting to go a different direction with your buttercream, or you just don’t want to take the time to make SMBC, feel free to make any other frosting you’d like. I think a simple cream cheese frosting like what I used for these cupcakes would be perfect (just omit the cinnamon and add the strawberry jam as written in the recipe below).

Ingredients for Strawberries and Cream Champagne Cupcakes

All-purpose flour
Baking powder
Kosher salt
Unsalted butter
Granulated sugar
Egg whites
Champagne (or another sparkling wine)
Vanilla extract

Tips for Making These Cupcakes

Do NOT overmix the cupcake batter. Champagne adds an incredible, light, fluffy texture to these cupcakes – and overbeating the batter would change that texture completely. I even recommend folding with a rubber spatula towards the end so you can be extra careful!
Use room temperature ingredients. I think we’ve all probably learned this the hard way.. when you use cold eggs or cold champagne, the butter will curdle and begin to split. Everything incorporates much better when the ingredients are room temperature!
1. A quick note on eggs… I go through SO many eggs around here, and with inflation you’ve probably noticed that the price of eggs has practically skyrocketed. Little tip: I’ve been buying mine at Costco, and they are soooo much cheaper than other local grocery stores. If you bake a lot, I recommend getting most of your ingredients there (butter, sugar, cream cheese, etc.). You’ll be amazed how much you save!
Only fill the cupcake liners 2/3-full. I don’t know about you but I love perfectly domed cupcake tops – and the way you get those is to not over-fill the liners. I know it’s tempting to fill them all the way up (who doesn’t want a bigger cupcake?), but 2/3-full is the perfect amount for these cupcakes, trust me.
Read this blog post. I’ve said it once and I’ll say it again, definitely read through this step-by-step tutorial to learn how to make perfect SMBC every time! It will help immensely, I promise.

I hope you all love this recipe as much as I do, and remember to tag me on socials @sarahsdayoff if you make any of these so I can see!!

Love and brownies,

Sarah

“Let me hear of your unfailing love each morning, for I am trusting you. Show me where to walk, for I give myself to you.” -Psalm 143:8-

Print Recipe

Strawberries and Cream Champagne Cupcakes

Course: Dessert

Keyword: brown sugar cupcakes, champagne, champagne cupcakes, strawberry buttercream, swiss meringue buttercream

Author: Sarah Crawford

Ingredients

For the Champagne Cupcakes

1 cup all-purpose flour
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp kosher salt
1/2 cup unsalted butter at room temperature
1 cup granulated sugar
3 large egg whites at room temperature
1 cup champagne or use another sparkling wine, at room temperature

For the Strawberry Swiss Meringue Buttercream

6 large egg whites
2 cups granulated sugar
1 1/2 cups unsalted butter softened to about 63°F and cut into Tbsp-sized pieces
1/2 cup seedless strawberry jam at room temperature
2 tsp pure vanilla extract
1/8 tsp kosher salt
1 to 2 drops pink gel food coloring optional

Instructions

For the Champagne Cupcakes

Preheat oven to 350°F. Line a muffin tin with cupcake liners. Sift flour, baking powder, and salt in a large bowl.
Beat butter and sugar in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment on high speed 3 to 5 minutes or until very light and fluffy.
Beat in egg whites, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Alternately beat in champagne and dry ingredients in 3 additions each, starting and ending with the dry ingredients. Mix until just combined.
Fill cupcake liners 2/3-full with batter. Bake 15 to 18 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center of the cupcake comes out clean. Cool completely before frosting.

For the Strawberry Swiss Meringue Buttercream

First, read this blog post for a detailed step-by-step tutorial, this will help you in the long run I promise!
Whisk egg whites and sugar in the the clean bowl of a stand mixer (or another heat-proof bowl) and set over a saucepan with 2 inches of simmering water on medium heat.
Cook egg mixture, stirring occasionally, 5 to 7 minutes or until mixture registers 160°F on an instant-read thermometer and sugar granules are completely dissolved. To test if the sugar is completely dissolved, quickly dip a finger into the mixture and rub between your fingers. It should be completely smooth.
Transfer bowl to a stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment and beat on high speed until stiff peaks form, about 7 to 10 minutes. If you hit 10 minutes and still don't have stiff peaks, place the entire bowl in the refrigerator for exactly 10 minutes. Then, remove the bowl and continue beating until stiff peaks form.
Once you reach stiff peaks, if the bowl and meringue are still warm to the touch, refrigerate for 10 minutes exactly and proceed to the next step.
With the mixer running on medium-low speed, beat in half of the butter (3/4 cup or 1 1/2 sticks), 1 Tbsp at a time, waiting until 1 Tbsp is completely incorporated before adding the next.
Switch to the paddle attachment and continue beating in remaining butter on medium-low speed, still adding it 1 Tbsp at a time until buttercream is smooth, fluffy, and holds its shape.
Beat in strawberry jam, vanilla, salt, and food coloring on low speed until smooth. Transfer buttercream to a piping bag fitted with desired tip and pipe onto cupcakes.
If the buttercream is curdled: Sadly, the SMBC may have separated and the result is small flecks of butter that look slightly chunky and thick. The butter may have been colder than the meringue when you began beating it, so here's a super quick fix: remember our saucepan of simmering water in the beginning? Bring that water back to a simmer and place the bowl over the water. Let it sit, without mixing, for 1 to 2 minutes or until the edges of the meringue warm up and become liquid. Then, transfer the bowl back to the mixer and beat on low speed for 30 seconds, then medium-high speed until it becomes smooth (usually about 1 to 2 minutes).
If the buttercream is soupy: Unfortunately, your butter may have become too soft in the meringue when you added it, resulting in a warm SMBC. Simply take a bag of frozen peas (or whatever you have in your freezer) and hold it on the sides of the bowl while it's mixing on low speed. After holding it here for a few minutes the mixture should cool off and begin to thicken. BUT, if it's still not thickening, place the entire bowl in the refrigerator in 20 minute spurts. Then, place the bowl back on the mixer and beat on high speed until it thickens up, about 1 to 2 minutes.